Google is incorporating an Android feature that can automatically send your location details using Wi-Fi, GPS and cell towers. This can be highly crucial when there is a grave emergency and the person, although can make all, but is unable to talk. For example, there are many cardiac arrest patients who cannot tell the location even after making a call to an emergency service. During such situations, this Android feature can automatically send location details to the emergency service.

This Google Europe blog post explains in detail the great benefits of the Android feature that can automatically send your location details to emergency services. It says that currently 70% of the calls to emergency services come from mobile phones and the biggest problem is getting location data. Although the emergency services, in case the person cannot tell his or her location, use cell tower location to find where the person is, there can be many locations around that particular cell tower. Accurate emergency location can be a matter of life and death. According to US Federal Communications Commission, improving response time by one minute can save 10,000 lives annually.

This new Android feature needs to be supported by your network that allows you to send your location to the emergency services from your phone. As mentioned above, the feature can use multiple connection methods including Wi-Fi, GPS and cell towers to pinpoint your exact location in times of emergency, both indoors and outdoors.

The location service for emergency services is available to just emergency services and it is not tracked by Google. Google doesn’t know your location using this Android feature. Your phone sends your location details when you explicitly make a call to an emergency number, either directly or through your mobile network.

Currently the feature on your phone that sends your location detail to emergency services automatically is active in the UK and Estonia but Google is working on providing the feature available in other countries too.